


If It Is in My Power

by Nekochi



Category: Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4892014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekochi/pseuds/Nekochi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Matchmaker has made her matches, but Lyon is about to discover there is still a lot he doesn't know about Lady Loriela of Jiyel. Features major spoilers for the Jiyel path through week three.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If It Is in My Power

Since the matchmaker’s announcement, Lyon had found he was more in tune with his biological clock. Whereas previously he had been content to make words his sole form of nourishment and hide away in the library for hours on end, his stomach had started to get in the habit of reminding him when dinner was, giving him enough time to hastily straighten his tunic before arriving to the group meals and finding a seat next to a certain lady of Jiyel. In his more fanciful moments, he even felt his increased observations might be helping him to unravel the unique puzzle she provided for him. It was the watchfulness he employed around her that led him to notice certain subtle, alarming changes to her manner.

Her normally alabaster skin lacked even the pretense of color and during a certain interval he thought he caught her hand shaking as she reached to raise her wine glass to her lips. More tellingly, her clear grey eyes were glassy and unfocused and he could have sworn there was a thin film of sweat congealing on her brow. Something was terribly wrong.

He caught her arm as the dinner ended and he wasn’t sure if he imagined her leaning against his lengthy form for a brief moment. “May I see you back to your room?”

A hint of a smile flitted across her lips. “I won’t say no to an escort, but I’m headed to the small library, not my room.”

Lyon nodded and her feather light touch settled on his arm as they exited the dining room. She was uncharacteristically quiet, as if it took all her concentration to move easily through the halls. When they reached the library, the books she directed him to take from the shelves were medical treatises and books on herbs and horticulture. When they reached a back corner of the library she practically collapsed into her chair, her eyes fluttering in what looked suspiciously like a sudden bout of dizziness.

“Lady Loriela.”

She looked up at him, a mask spreading across her tired face. “Yes, Duke Lyon?”

He said nothing, just laid a hand across her forehead. She closed her eyes in something like relief and the reason was immediately obvious: despite a certain overall clamminess, she clearly had a fever. “How long have you been sick?”

He was disturbed when her response was something like a laugh. “It was foolish of me to allow you to join me tonight.”

“ _Loriela_.”

She sighed, apparently letting go of all pretenses as she rested her head in her arms. “I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.” Despite this pronouncement, she couldn’t keep a certain hesitation from her voice. “I’m dying.”

Lyon’s eyes widened in shock. Time seemed to stop. He wasn’t sure if he could breathe. He grasped her wrist and she looked up at him, grey eyes mildly surprised. “ _How long_?”

The same look of hesitation. “I got a letter. The first week. It was for my cousin. It featured, among other things, a promise that if she had not given up her spot on the delegation, she would never see Jiyel or any other land again. The letter was coated in poison.”

He released his fingers from around her wrist, studying her calm countenance. “A cure…?”

She shook her head. “None. But I don’t intend to give up searching. I found a plant that will slow the poison’s progression, but thus far…” She shrugged, as if her life meant that little. “This must come as quite a shock. I would not blame you if you wish to call off our match, though I would ask you not to spread this information around, not until I have a better idea of who did this and why.”

Lyon had drawn her into his arms before he realized what he was doing. “…for someone so intelligent, you are incredibly foolish.” He could feel her shock relaxing, as she gave in and buried her face in his chest. Just how strong was she, to hide this so successfully? He wondered if she’d ever once given into tears and he tightened his grip, as if by doing so, he could keep from losing her. “You aren’t alone. I’ll help you search…” His words trailed off. He was unsure of what to say. What could he say to let her know everything he was feeling? He didn’t think he could articulate it. His sense of loss when he thought of going back to Jiyel without her. His anger at whoever had done this to her, at her for shutting him out and trying to do everything on her own. The feelings of helplessness that were even now combining with the desire to do something, anything to keep her safe. To keep her with him. He felt her hands grasping at his clothes and heard a quiet, half-choked sob rise from her chest. He wished he could do something more for her, but at the moment the best he could do was hide her in this secluded corner and let her cry the tears she hadn’t been able to shed previously. Even still, he knew that he would devote everything, all his powers of intellect and his various resources to finding a cure. He had never been religious, but unbidden, he caught himself praying it would be enough.


End file.
